Column: National Voices
Throughout the course of my life and especially this semester, I have noticed a common problem among the young women I associate with. For some reason, most girls don’t like having their picture taken.
Of course, these girls give reasons for it. They say they just don’t photograph well or they have chubby, disproportioned features. Some think their thighs are too thick or their breasts are too small. Others say the trouble lies with their humongous nose or oversized earlobes. Then, of course, there are those with the supposed man shoulders, flabby arms, acne-covered skin and the just plain too fat, too short, too tall and too skinny.
Truly, this is a baffling epidemic – an entire college population of non-photogenic women. But why? All because women don’t think they are beautiful anymore. How did that happen?
Nobody knows who said it first or how it was said, but somehow it came out and now we women really believe it. We hear it all the time: “You’re ugly!” Every time a size two model comes on, in between our late-night TV shows, selling the latest skin cream for wrinkles and cellulite, those words echo in our heads.
If we were still in grade school, we could just yell back, “Well, so…you’re stupid!” and be done with it. But we’re older and wiser now. We know what see on television is real. Hey, we are the ones who came up with reality shows! But wait … that means that “ugly” stuff must be real too. Women must really be ugly. Who could have guessed?
But what is beauty anyway? There used to be a time when women who were short and fat were considered beautiful. Being overweight was a sign of being wealthy, and, of course, it’s common knowledge that all the rich are beautiful. They have fine clothes, nice cars and can afford all the plastic surgery they want. That’s really what beauty is, right? It’s plastic. You know, the stuff Tupperware, playground toys and trash bags are made of.
Well, I’m afraid Webster’s begs to differ. Beauty is defined as “qualities that give pleasure to the senses or exalt the mind,” and someone who is beautiful is some who possesses those kinds of qualities. It seems that definition would imply we don’t have to dazzle everyone to be beautiful. We simply have to find one person who takes pleasure in our existence. But who could that be?
While working on a recent photography project, one of my subjects expressed some dissatisfaction in the image I had taken of her. She was a beautiful girl with shimmering dark hair and bright brown eyes, and although there was nothing wrong with the photo I had already taken, I agreed that wasn’t the best picture I had seen of her and we decided to retake it.
When we got together for the reshoot, she seemed uncomfortable with herself. I discovered that was the reason some of the photographs were not as good. Despite the fact that she was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever photographed, she didn’t know that she was beautiful, and then lens picked that up. I told her you have to believe you are beautiful. Believing you are makes it so.
Although this specific incident stands out in my mind, I have had many like it over the years. Women don’t believe they are beautiful. But they are, they really are. There is no excuse for any woman to think they aren’t pretty. John Cage said, “The first question I ask myself when something doesn’t seem to be beautiful is why do I think it’s not beautiful. And very shortly, you discover that there is no reason.”
All we need is one, just one person who believes. Isn’t that us? We need to believe. If a woman believed she was beautiful, who, in reality, could question it? No one knows her better than she does.
So, let’s take it back. Beautiful women of the world – and yes that means all of you – unite. No supermodel on any centerfold, no television commercial, no, not even any man can make us feel ugly any longer. We simply won’t believe it.
Mikaylie Kartchner is a junior majoring in print journalism.
Comments can be sent to
mikayliek@cc.usu.edu.